women of the same age<\/a> or their older counterparts. But that lack of enthusiasm itself is a warning sign for Republicans, who will need to motivate their base ahead of November if they wish to maintain control of Congress.<\/p>\nThe young men sampled are overwhelmingly concerned about cost-of-living issues \u2014 the same reason that many swung toward the GOP two years ago.<\/p>\n
When given a list of options and asked which will matter most in determining their vote in November, a wide plurality \u2014 29% \u2014 selected \u201cinflation and the cost of living,\u201d and another 14% chose \u201chousing costs and being able to afford a place to live.\u201d When asked what policies would make the biggest difference in their lives, the top answers again deal with the economy: The most-selected options were lowering the cost of goods, lowering housing costs and cutting taxes.<\/p>\n
Many young men feel pessimistic about their ability to achieve success. When asked if they feel the rules in this country are set up to work for or against young men, 43% said they feel the rules are set up against them to 47% who said the rules are set up in their favor.<\/p>\n
That pessimism bleeds into how they view other institutions. Both the Democratic Party (-1) and Republican Party (-9) have net-negative favorability among the demographic, and the White House\u2019s current occupants are even more unpopular: Vice President JD Vance sits at 37% favorability with -10 net favorability, while Trump is at 38% favorability with -17 net.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung men are pretty down on institutions and political figures, and this one isn’t any exception to that,\u201d Tarascio said.<\/p>\n
Republicans successfully targeted young men and low-propensity voters in 2024 to help propel them to victory largely in part by having Trump sit for interviews with podcast hosts and influencers popular with young men. Trump has yet to return to those forums en masse ahead of the midterms, but he\u2019s repeatedly told voters to pretend as if he\u2019s on the ballot in November.<\/p>\n
But Trump may no longer be the motivator he once was for turning out young, male, low-propensity voters. Among those surveyed who were least likely to vote, Trump\u2019s net favorability is -22, lower than the respondents most likely to vote, where his net favorability is -19.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Trump gets in front of them, I don’t think it’s a bad bet, but for some of these people it could backfire,\u201d Tarascio said.<\/p>\n
The poll was conducted Sept. 15-18 with a sample of 800 registered male voters ages 18-30. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.<\/p>\n